What is IOTA?

If you are up to date on IOTA you will be aware that it is growing in popularity and is now a top 5 cryptocurrency. The IOTA coin has taken the market by surprise as well as the world due to its marked difference from other crypto coins.

This new ledger-based technology, designed for the management of smart devices has been hailed as 'revolutionary' in terms of transactional settlements and data transfer for the IoT (Internet of Things). These coins help smart devices of any kind to settle transactions without any fees and with the continued expansion of IoT, there is a great need for such a resource. The Tangle Ledger provides the unique concept for the technology and is decentralized and a scalable modular ledger. This means you can modify it to manage pretty much anything from Wi-Fi bandwidths to cars.

How does it work?

Tangle Ledger is responsible for settling transactions without fees. The conventional blockchain involves transactions bundled into blocks which need to be verified. There is no need for blockchain with IOTA thanks to the Tangle technology known as a directed acyclic graph (DAG). This is essentially a blockchain without the blocks and chains. Tangle has become the first ledger to master scalability, remove transaction fees, achieve data integrity and transmission as well as protect against quantum-computing.

With Tangle transactions develop blocks that can verify themselves, no need for the miners anymore. To perform any transaction you first need to validate two other transactions, which makes your current one valid. Other coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero and Zcash all still rely on blockchain technology, which is a major drawback.

Characteristics

Private

This digital currency’s system is designed in such a way as to uphold censorship resistance and maintain privacy. Due to this, all your transactions are invisible to the wider public. This includes those who have access to that particular blockchain. It also does not compile a ‘Rich List’ as is the case with other crypto-currencies. Because of this, you cannot access even those accounts that have the highest number of coins.

Untraceable

It also comes along with an exclusive ring signature algorithm. This is basically a validation criterion that uniquely identifies a user in a blockchain. Being unique, it greatly obscures transactions by making them completely untraceable. For this reason, your identity is withheld at all times. This ring signature also prevents other users from tracking your transactions back to you.

Fungible

All the coins that are generated by this digital currency have the same value and are also equal in worth. As such, all the accompanying transactions display some level of ambiguity. This being the case, no user, vendor, or entity can turn them down or blacklist them altogether. This is the core reason why most entities are opting for Monero in lieu of other digital currencies like Bitcoin.

Secure

This currency safeguards the integrity and security of all of your transactions. It accomplishes this feat in two main ways. First, it secures each transaction cryptographically by utilizing the capacity which is provided for conscientiously by the peer-to-peer distributed network. Secondly, at the time of creating your account, you are furnished with a special 25-word mnemonic seed. This is the ‘password’ that you will use to validate every subsequent transaction. It is also required whenever your account is tampered with and in need of a recovery.

Decentralized

All Monero transactions are conveyed via a peer-to-peer network. In such an arrangement, all the nodes (terminals) within the network are of equal stature and significance. This equality negates any special preferences for one node over the other. Consequently, no single node has greater access, influence, or control, over transactions at the expense of the other nodes. Further to this, no individual within the node may be able to keep track of transactions. You may, therefore, trust this system to deliver to your highest expectations.

Easily Accessible

Monero is primarily intended to be an open source product. This means that it allows the general public to access its source code to authenticate both its validity and security. In addition to this, the crypto-currency also allows each of its features to be systematically and mathematically verified. This is by reason of being compatible with several peer-reviewed study papers.

Where & how to buy IOTA?

You may buy or sell this currency via several platforms. These platforms are called exchanges. Some of the top examples of these platforms include the following:

Bitfinex (BFX)

This is a major cryptocurrency exchange based in Hong Kong. They buy and sell IOTA as well as other altcoins using US dollars, BTC or Ether currencies. With respect to Bitcoin, you will not find a bigger exchange with leveraged trades reaching up to 3.3 times together with algorithmic types of orders. Bitfinex is a high-security forum and offers complex analytical charts to suit traders that prefer graphic trading environments.

Bit520

This Chinese based exchange was the first one to offer IOTA trading. It serves to provide crypto coin traders who use pure trading platforms for their digital assets. The trading channels here are stable, secure and offer convenient and safe service for traders.

What is the best wallet?

Every crypto-coin has 'wallet system' to store your funds. This digital wallet comprises an exclusive receiving address. It is this address that you relay to your contacts to have them deposit funds. The following are some of the main different kinds of wallets:

There are several options available to you for storing your IOTA in a wallet including Full Node, Headless Node, Light Wallet and IOTA Wallet.

Full Node: This is a standard IRI (IOTA Reference Implementation) that is run through a GUI as well as locally accessed that way. Full nodes require a simple static IP to be linked to its neighbors, it order to function.

Headless Node: This is typically a full running node in your console and you can also access it on your web browser, through a UI known as Nostalgia. It has similar requirements to the GUI full node but has the additional advantage of allowing more than one account to be open at the same time.

Light Wallet: This is a unique local interface which can access full node in diverse settings.

IOTA Wallet (Beta): This Andorid wallet has yet to be released and comes with a warning on Google Play to use at your own risk. There have been complaints with this wallet, regarding people losing their IOTA.

Hot Wallet

It is pretty similar to the online wallet. It describes that Monero wallet which is connected directly to the internet. It enables the smooth sending of funds. However, it is not so secure. You are hence advised not to store a lot of funds in it.

Cold Wallet

Unlike the hot wallet, the cold wallet does not require an active internet connection. Instead, it is generated by a computer or any other trusted devices by use of an air gap. In case such a gadget is to be used again, the data that is stored has to be overwritten securely.

NB: These accounts may be stored in any media. These include the CD, DVD, USB drive, paper, or any other hardware wallet device.

Ledger Hardware Wallet

Ledger is a hardware wallet providing the highest possible security. As of writing this article.

Moreno Core GUI

This wallet adds an extra Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the core wallets that are mentioned above. It is still in its trial version though. It supports only Windows, Linux, and Mac, alone at the moment.

Monero Wallet CLI

Apart from merely storing funds, this wallet allows you also to store pertinent pieces of information. It also enables you to send and receive Moneroj. The wallet software also keeps a safe record of all the transaction logs. That aside, it also enables you to sign messages cryptographically. It is supported by Mac, Windows, Arm, Linux, and BSD.

MyMonero

This is strictly speaking not a wallet as such. Instead, it is a website which offers free web hosting services for Monero accounts. It thus allows you to leverage the services and benefits of Monero without necessary running the blockchain in your personal account. Through it, you can gain access your Monero funds.

ICO

The IOTA ICO occurred between November 25th and December 21, 2015. At the time, over 2,800,000 Gi were sold to investors and the developers kept no tokens. The BTC had gone directly into technological and IOTA development so there was no need to keep any.

The following year, 48% of IOTA owners claimed their tokens and by early February 2017, this total had reached 60%. Exclusive addresses that boasted a positive balance increased from 472 to 657. Exclusive addresses with 1 Gi were also increased by 334 to 494 total (48% increase). What happened was that the time for claiming IOTA had run out and what was left was a situation where every issued token was matched with an unclaimed one remaining with the developer. It is still unclear how many unclaimed tokens there were, but by adding up the two top addresses, you get a figure close to 406,834Gi.

Future Prospects?

The advanced and unique technology of the Tangle Ledger is going to change the dynamic of the IoT world. It is guaranteed to be scalable and centralized as well as suitable for a number of applications. The best part is that each of these promises comes at no cost, which means microtransactions will be more accessible than before.

The sole purpose of IOTA is to help us run, optimize and effectively use the IoT. You will have the ability to lease the computing power smart devices across the world. Additionally you can sell your device's computing power when it is not being used. With just a chip, you can essentially lease anything you want.

The power of Tangle Ledger extends far beyond IoT as it has the potential to find applications in masked messaging and e-governance. IoT is not exactly going anywhere; we have smart phones now but soon it will be smart cars and smart appliances, so the world needs to be ready. IOTA effectively provides a solution to run all the smart technology that you will ever have.

monero mining?

It is the act of running a special program on computers that verify and process crypto-currencies like Monero. These transactions have to be first and foremost be announced by other users via the world wide network.

Monero is potentially rewarding. That’s because it is centered on Proof-of-work. It also comes along with smoothly-varying block rewards. These individual blocks are to be re-targeted by the difficult and comprehensive 60s block target.

In order to actualize this process of mining, you will have to go through the following stages. You will have to use special software and a computer to solve some intricate mathematical problems. In case you are successful, you will receive tokens in the form of Monero digital currency. This feat requires a great deal of computational power. This power may be derived from CPU or GPU. On the whole, any kind of person may accomplish this mining task.

THE PROCESS OF MINING

For a start, you may choose to mine alone, or in the company of others. Going alone is potentially difficult, especially so for starters. Due to this, you are strongly advised to do it in the company of others. Teamwork approach also expedites the process. This is because of the collective effort of each individual user, reduced variance, and a steady flow of income.

Prerequisites for Mining

The following are some of the options you may have to exploit to actualize this process:

Pools

You may contemplate joining a pool. As earlier mentioned, pool mining is generally more effective than solo mining. You are strongly encouraged to join a smaller pool in case you are a starter.

Hardware

Alternatively, you may consider investing in a special mining hardware. Such hardware has the potential to simplify your task of mining and bolster your mining hash rate.

Mining Software

There exists numerous mining software. You may consider acquiring as many of them as possible. You should thereafter try them out to find out which one is most effective.

How to Mine

To do this, follow these two simple steps:

STEP I: Select your Mining Pool

Identify and join an appropriate mining pool. This is the only way to boost your chance of achieving success. To get started on this, you may wish to pay a visit to moneropools.com. There is a long list of some of the various pools that may help you to get started. You are also strongly advised against opting for solo mining. That’s because you may have to wait longer before receiving any rewards.

STEP II: Enter your Pool Information and Start the Mining Process

The miners are ordinarily run from the first command lines (there are very few miners that are based on the Graphical User Interface). To do this successfully, you are simply required to follow the documentation of the software. You are then to run it with your pool’s address and the other miner’s information.

HOW DOES MONERO WORK?

Monero basically works by generating coins which may be subsequently mined. It comprises a principal emission curve that generates in excess of 18.4 million coins that may be mined within a duration of 8 years. The 8-year duration is anticipated to last until the year 2022. Indeed, by May 2022, it shall have generated and released approximately 18 million coins. Shortly afterward, it shall steadily release approximately 0.6 by MR for every 2 minutes block. This shall result in a 1% sub-perpetual inflation that shall be accompanied by a 0.87% yearly rate of inflation starting May 2022.

Unlike most other crypto-currencies, Monero’s reward mechanism is devoid of block halving. On the contrary, it smoothly decreases with time. As has already been intimated, Monero also comprises the Proof-of-work algorithm (CryptoNight). This is an Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm. It is also memory heavy and quite intensive, so much so that, it minimizes the GPU and CPU advantages significantly.

SAFETY OF THE TRANSACTIONS

Monero does protect the transactions that transpire on its network in three main ways. These are listed and explained below:

Use of Ring Signature

This is basically a privacy monitoring control tool. It basically hides your identity and address from being viewed by others in the network.

Transaction Secrecy

It covers up all the pieces of information that pertain the transaction amounts. This feature operates by default and will from the end of 2017 be made mandatory.

Use of Stealth Address

This address basically hides all information that regards the receiving address of the transactions. It, therefore, prevents unsuspecting third parties from accessing your vital records unnecessarily.

Other than the tools that are mentioned above, there are other additional safety features in the pipeline. One shall be able to conceal the transaction’s original nodes. Another one shall be a router that shall be basically intended to support this operation.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF MONERO?

As has already been stated above, Monero was officially launched in the year 2014. It has since doubled and even quadrupled in price. Bictoin’s low scalability is speculated as the main reason why many prefer Monero. Its faster speed and lower prices have further accentuated interests from various quarters. This being the case, Bitcoin’s continued low scalability is likely to drive further interest in Monero and other alternative crypto-currencies.

At the beginning of the year 2017, Monero did incorporate the RingCT. This feature further bolsters its privacy, a move that is likely to elicit further interest. Monero has also demonstrated a steady show of maturity and stability in value. These traits, combined with Monero’s ease of deployment, interchangeability, and Bitcoin’s market instability, makes it all the more preferable.

Going further, Monero is more likely to be applied and used outside of the financial sector and in such areas as insurance and technology. This is due to the fact that its underlying control systems do dispatch and confirm transactions speedily. This has made it a viable option especially by global firms that would wish to enhance their security and operational transparency. The same case applies also to those firms that may wish to improve their operational efficiencies.

CONCLUSION

Monero is still in infancy, by reason of having been launched only recently (in 2014). It waits to be seen just how far and how much progress it is likely to bring along.